The Cavs traded Andrew Bynum and three draft picks to the Chicago Bulls for SF Luol Deng.

We get rid of Bynum, FINALLY get a serviceable 3, but it does cost us three picks. It's not as if Grunt knows what to do with draft picks anyway, but that does allow Da Bulls to bulk up in the future.

The 6'9 Deng is 28 years old, and is 19.0/6.9/3.7 assists in 23 games this year (all starts). He's a career 16.1 ppg small, and has 9 years on the clock. He's the first NBA 3 we've had since LeBJ left.

The picks are the first-round draft pick owed to the Cavs by the Sacramento Kings from a 2011 trade for J.J. Hickson. The Bulls will get the Kings' pick if it falls outside the top 12 in 2014 or outside the top 10 picks in 2015, 2016 or 2017. The Bulls also got the 2015 and 2016 second-round picks the Portland Trail Blazers owed the Cavs. In a final piece, the Bulls will be able to swap draft positions with the Cavs in 2015 as long as the Cavs' draft pick is outside the top 14 picks.

Not that any of that shit matters, based on the Cavs recent draft history anyway. They don't include our picks (which should be damn good if the team keeps playing like they are).

I think it's the best they are going to get for Bynum. It fills a gaping hole, and hopefully Deng won't sleep around with the AC's wives and we can keep him around awhile...

If they can resign him, it's a good trade. If not...still would be okay, but it sorta seems like quite a bit too give up for a 3-month run at the 8 seed. At least they weren't great draft picks. And Deng is definitely a piece that makes sense on this team.

---"It was great training being there. They do it with character and intelligence. They run that organization the right way. They build through the draft. They're patient. It's just the right way to do it. It was a tremendous opportunity to be with them." Jimmy Haslam on why he'd model the Browns after the Steelers, 10/16/12

GREAT trade. I've beaten them up all year but if you want to make a run in this historically shitty East, this is the way to do it. The 3 or 4 seed is feasible with so much basketball left. I was in favor of Tankapalooza 2014 but that's going to be a dicey proposition with so many teams having the same idea. I'm just glad they picked a direction. And even if he's only here for 4 months, Deng is a winner and a culture change type that can have a great effect on the young guys.

And the other assets they gave up are reasonable. I don't care about second round picks, that Kings pick will be #11 at best and there's a decent chance it ends up being a second rounder (has to be outside the top 10 in the next 4 drafts, not a given), and the Cavs have to pick 15 or higher for the pick swap to come into play in 2015.

Last edited by Kingpin74 on Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:17 am, edited 2 times in total.

"Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do...win the whole, f***in', thing."- Jake Taylor

As an NBA fan, and a Brit, I am overjoyed at this acquisition. Deng is a scorer who can defend and offer a lot. Like what was said above. The real value comes if we can re-sign him. Nice bit of business from the FO.

"There is but one thing of real value: to cultivate truth and justice and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men"

Kingpin74 wrote:GREAT trade. I've beaten them up all year but if you want to make a run in this historically shitty East, this is the way to do it. The 3 or 4 seed is feasible with so much basketball left.

Good luck with that. We are currently the 13th seed out of 15. Our record is 11-23 (32.4%). The 4th seed is Toronto at 16-16. To finish out tied with them then at 41-41 we'd have to go 30-18 which means we'll have to win at a 62.5% clip.

So adding an above average player is supposed to do that?

The main question… What is more valuable:

Improving your crappy odds of making it to the first round to undoubtedly get knocked out of the playoffs to the Pacers or Heat. While seriously hurting your good chance of getting an impact player in the 2014 draft? Gets your young guys some needed experience.

Or

Keeping your good chances of getting an impact player in the 2014 NBA draft while not improving your crappy odds of the first round butt whooping. But also continues a losing culture.

I said the 3 or 4 seed but all you really need is the 6 seed to give yourself a realistic shot at winning a series and they're only 4 games out of that right now (and to the team that just gutted itself in this trade). That could be a huge step for this team going forward.

Believe me, I had the front seat on the tanking bandwagon but you have a lot of other teams doing the same thing, especially the few bottom feeders in the West with much harder schedules. Even a draft as loaded as this one is uncertain beyond the top 3 of Randle, Parker, and Wiggins (except for maybe a couple of point guards we can't use). I think the softness of the East and the chance to build up a winning culture trumps the chances we'd have to significantly improve through tanking. If you have the 5th worst record (where they are right now in a Murphy's Law season, and the schedule gets easier), you have zero chance of picking 4th and a 71% chance of picking 5th or lower. I wouldn't even be confident in keeping that spot without Deng, and the odds drop significantly after that (20% Top 3 chance for the 6 spot, 15% for 7 spot, and 10% for 8 spot). Plus you have a month and half before the deadline to see where this is headed and if it all goes to hell, you can re-tank anyway.

"Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do...win the whole, f***in', thing."- Jake Taylor

Kingpin74 wrote:GREAT trade. I've beaten them up all year but if you want to make a run in this historically shitty East, this is the way to do it. The 3 or 4 seed is feasible with so much basketball left.

Good luck with that. We are currently the 13th seed out of 15. Our record is 11-23 (32.4%). The 4th seed is Toronto at 16-16. To finish out tied with them then at 41-41 we'd have to go 30-18 which means we'll have to win at a 62.5% clip.

So adding an above average player is supposed to do that?

The main question… What is more valuable:

Improving your crappy odds of making it to the first round to undoubtedly get knocked out of the playoffs to the Pacers or Heat. While seriously hurting your good chance of getting an impact player in the 2014 draft? Gets your young guys some needed experience.

Or

Keeping your good chances of getting an impact player in the 2014 NBA draft while not improving your crappy odds of the first round butt whooping. But also continues a losing culture.

Not quite the slam dunk long term that it seems.

I would go with #1, judging by our past drafts. A high first round pick will probably become another PG or PF anyhow.

bookelly wrote:Based on early results (very early) in this Philly game...I'd say the Cavs at the very least made addition by subtraction of Bynum. Maybe it was he and not Dion that caused all the friction.

Can't wait to follow this road trip with Deng in tow.

Doesn't hurt tonight that CJ Miles ran into his one big game per month in the first half.

Eight 3-pointers in the first half, which ties a Cavs single-game record. I'm betting he doesn't break it in the 2nd half and the Cavs cling to a win against a team as bad as they are

Kingpin74 wrote:GREAT trade. I've beaten them up all year but if you want to make a run in this historically shitty East, this is the way to do it. The 3 or 4 seed is feasible with so much basketball left.

Good luck with that. We are currently the 13th seed out of 15. Our record is 11-23 (32.4%). The 4th seed is Toronto at 16-16. To finish out tied with them then at 41-41 we'd have to go 30-18 which means we'll have to win at a 62.5% clip.

So adding an above average player is supposed to do that?

The main question… What is more valuable:

Improving your crappy odds of making it to the first round to undoubtedly get knocked out of the playoffs to the Pacers or Heat. While seriously hurting your good chance of getting an impact player in the 2014 draft? Gets your young guys some needed experience.

Or

Keeping your good chances of getting an impact player in the 2014 NBA draft while not improving your crappy odds of the first round butt whooping. But also continues a losing culture.

Not quite the slam dunk long term that it seems.

How about c:"Resign Kyrie in 2015"He is a good teammate, plays thru injury, and it doesn't hurt that Deng also plays defense for 48 minutes and he might inspire others to follow by quietly leading by example.

Last edited by kman_holla8 on Wed Jan 08, 2014 8:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Cocaine is a hell of a drug" - Originated from a famous skit in Dave Chappelle's "Chappelle's Show". The skit would portray Rick James, usually high on cocaine, preforming doing crazy and stupid things, such as smacking Charlie Murphy in the face. Rick James would frequently explain away his actions by saying "Cocaine is a hell of a drug".

All this talk of draft picks and playoff rounds is nice and all, but really, the best way to turn things around for the franchise to get things going in the right direction and open up the future is more simple than all of this.

Don't put a shitty team on the floor.

They are bad. It's been bad basketball. No matter where they finish in the worst conference in recent memory.

And again, Kyrie is distracted because he keeps checking his "get out of Cleveland" watch.

You don't see things changing anytime soon? Look again. They've already changed.Chicago 15-18Detroit 14-21LAL 14-21Brooklyn/New Jersey 13-21Boston 13-22New York 12-22Philley 12-23Most of those teams have been among the best the NBA has to offer in the not-so-distant past. All big-city teams that tried to buy free agents and almost immediately went in the dumper.

On the other side of the ledger:Indiana 28-6Portland 26-9Golden State 24-13LAC 24-13Most of those teams are from mid-sized markets. They've have been down so long nobody ever thought they'd rise up to even the .500 level. It hasn't been all at once, either--just a combination of smart front-office people that make good trades and good drafts. It CAN be done.

Don't want to hear any more about our "mid-size" woes in the NBA. That's all B.S.

The NBA is known for having teams that are "FA destinations". The Lakers got old, and saddled themselves with a huge Kobe contract so they're pretty much screwed. The Celtics got old and found a sucker to take their graying cast of stars for the life of their contracts before they head to the glue factory. Brooklyn looks like a destination until you realize they were the team that took on those old farts. Miami is the new destination, except they're getting old and only have a couple years left.

The Clippers drafted high, drafted smart, and are in a destination city, so they seem to be it now.

Indiana seems to be the outlier to ths theory, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Basically, if Indiana could do it, CLE should have.

The NBA is known for having teams that are "FA destinations". The Lakers got old, and saddled themselves with a huge Kobe contract so they're pretty much screwed. The Celtics got old and found a sucker to take their graying cast of stars for the life of their contracts before they head to the glue factory. Brooklyn looks like a destination until you realize they were the team that took on those old farts. Miami is the new destination, except they're getting old and only have a couple years left.

The Clippers drafted high, drafted smart, and are in a destination city, so they seem to be it now.

Indiana seems to be the outlier to ths theory, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Basically, if Indiana could do it, CLE should have.

"Should have" being the operative word. It's not an issue though, where Indiana is an outlier in terms of marquee free agents. They drafted and traded on draft day to acquire the talent they have now. They haven't and probably won't have a marquee free agent on that roster.

And when you look at the last three Cavs drafts and what they got with four top 4 picks, the drafting well ship may have sailed.

jerryroche wrote:You don't see things changing anytime soon? Look again. They've already changed.Chicago 15-18Detroit 14-21LAL 14-21Brooklyn/New Jersey 13-21Boston 13-22New York 12-22Philley 12-23Most of those teams have been among the best the NBA has to offer in the not-so-distant past. All big-city teams that tried to buy free agents and almost immediately went in the dumper.

On the other side of the ledger:Indiana 28-6Portland 26-9Golden State 24-13LAC 24-13Most of those teams are from mid-sized markets. They've have been down so long nobody ever thought they'd rise up to even the .500 level. It hasn't been all at once, either--just a combination of smart front-office people that make good trades and good drafts. It CAN be done.

Don't want to hear any more about our "mid-size" woes in the NBA. That's all B.S.

Not exactly. Chicago, Detroit, Boston and the Lakers have had some significant run. Lakers are never bad for long and Boston was good for years before finally blowing up their core. Chicago is a different animal, with a medical staff as bad as I've ever seen.

Nets and Knicks are always worse than the hype they get.

There is really just very little room for error in the nba and you also need the right timing.